After the divorce, he settled in Northwest China and became a Shennong (a legendary Chinese farmer).

Chapter 108 A Dead End, A Helpless Cooperation

"Sister Fan has a sharp eye! I never expected that Li Yong was actually the mole in Honghe. Tsk tsk, no wonder Jinfeng Group snatched away half of Honghe's core customers so quickly."

Gu Tong was taken aback after hearing this.

But he didn't forget to support Fan Li. She immediately informed him after receiving the news, so he felt he had to offer her some emotional support.

Fan Li fell for it, laughing nonstop on the other end of the phone.

After the call ended, Gu Tong shared this exciting news with her friends.

"Li Yong is Jin Feng's undercover agent? This is unbelievable! Even novels wouldn't dare to write something like this."

Aikbai usually enjoys reading novels in his spare time, but the shock this news brought him was even more intense than reading a novel.

Dong Jun and Ma Dongwen kept shaking their heads, finding the whole thing unbelievable.

After a long while, Dong Jun said, "Although Tang Guoxing is not a good person, he has been really good to Li Yong. Back then, the Li Yong brothers bullied and monopolized the market, especially targeting out-of-town farm machinery operators."

A farm machinery operator, pushed to the limit by Li Yong and his brothers, got into a conflict with them. As a result, an accident occurred, and Li Yong's older brother was disabled by the farm machinery. To pay for his brother's medical treatment, Li Yong sold his family property, and Tang Guoxing ultimately paid the final, crucial medical expenses.

Knowing about Li Yong and Tang Guoxing's past, Dong Jun, emboldened by alcohol, recounted everything in detail.

Tang Guoxing essentially saved Li Yong's older brother's life. Later, he took Li Yong under his wing and mentored him. Li Yong did not disappoint Tang Guoxing and quickly became a sharp weapon for Honghe in the face of external threats.

However, the result was that Li Yong betrayed Tang Guoxing, and Tang Guoxing immediately kicked Li Yong out after discovering this.

"Tang Guoxing did the right thing, but it was too late. If it weren't for Li Yong as an inside man, Jinfeng Group would not have been able to defeat Honghe so easily."

Gu Tong couldn't help but sigh, revealing a cruel truth.

Dong Jun and the others remained silent. The previous Honghe Group had already made them feel suffocated, and now they were about to face the Jinfeng Group, which was even more insidious and powerful than Honghe. Everyone felt a heavy weight in their hearts.

Gu Tong didn't try to comfort them, but believed that after a short period of adjustment, the three of them would see the future clearly.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Ali drove over and took Dong Jun and Gu Tong home first, then left with his younger brother, Ai Kebai.

Gu Tong sat in the courtyard drinking tea, feeling quite at ease. He didn't want to directly confront Jin Feng, and since he and his group already had a solid base, they weren't afraid of any of Jin Feng's tactics.

With the last order of the harvest season completed, he personally received 57600 yuan, while Ai Kebai and the other two each received 28800 yuan.

Gu Tong previously had 37.05 yuan in her bank account. After deducting the 2900 yuan spent on gas and daily expenses during this period, and adding this income of 57600 yuan, the bank account balance is 42.52 yuan.

Even after paying off the bank loan of 20 yuan, he would still have more than 20 yuan in his own funds.

So what does he have to be afraid of?

Before going to sleep, he opened the panel, and a message floated past his eyes.

[Effective work (three stages of harvesting), Shennong value +300]

[Effective work (three stages of harvesting), Shennong value +240]

Shennong Value: 1107 points

The harvest of the last 1800 mu of alfalfa brought Gu Tong more than 500 Shennong points, bringing his total Shennong points back to over 1,000.

Gu Tong was very happy. Next, he spent 600 Shennong points to exchange for the [Intermediate Aquaculture], [Intermediate Breeding], and [Intermediate Veterinary Medicine] books.

Shennong Value: 507 points

Immediately afterwards, his brain was violently impacted by a massive amount of knowledge and experience. He felt as if he were being swept along by the waves, his consciousness fluctuating between clear and hazy. In this state, he fell into a deep sleep.

When Gu Tongren woke up, he was quite energetic, but his mind was filled with a lot of new knowledge, and it took him a while to come to his senses.

After getting up, he first fed the sheep and the horses before eating breakfast.

After finishing his meal, he drove his tractor, loaded with a three-plowshare, to the rapeseed field and thoroughly plowed the 30 mu (approximately 2 hectares) of farmland.

After straw is returned to the field, the land needs to be deeply plowed to break up the soil layers, so as to promote the decomposition of straw and improve soil permeability and structure.

At the same time, deep plowing can also eliminate weeds and insect eggs, and the deep soil, after being exposed to the sun, can greatly reduce the accumulation of pests and diseases.

Around 10 a.m., Gu Tong finished her homework and returned home.

It was the weekend, and around noon, Gulixian drove to the yard, where Xiaoshitou was the first to greet her.

"Little Stone, I brought you lots of meat. You can eat it later."

Gulixian and Xiaoshitou played for a while, and Gu Tong, who heard the noise, came out of the house.

"I knew it was you right away. If it were anyone else, Little Stone would have given a warning long ago."

Gu Tong walked over, greeted the other person, and then asked her to park the car in the yard.

Gulixian then opened the trunk, revealing a lot of meat bones, mutton, and a fresh whole chicken.

Gu Tong didn't stand on ceremony and took all the items to the kitchen.

For lunch, you can make braised chicken, hand-pulled mutton, and a couple of vegetable dishes, and that'll be all you need.

"Gu Tong, if you pass the review, are you really going to contract 1000 mu of high-yield demonstration fields? Let me tell you, although contracting the land is free, you must build it according to high-standard farmland standards afterwards, and the investment will be considerable."

It wasn't time to cook yet, so the two sat in the courtyard, drinking tea and chatting.

Gulixian is no stranger to high-yield demonstration fields. She has several clients who encountered funding problems in the process of building high-standard farmland and ultimately had to take out bank loans.

"Yes, so I plan to apply for a high-yield rapeseed demonstration project. If successful, 90% of the funding will be provided by the county."

Gu Tong nodded. He had recently studied this matter in detail and had basically grasped the policy.

The county is responsible for the "three connections and one leveling" (water, electricity, road access, and land leveling) in the construction of high-standard farmland, but the subsequent construction is divided into two situations. One is to apply for a project or have it directly covered by fiscal funds, and the other is to build it yourself first and then apply for subsidies.

The first scenario is the best, where the individual's share of the investment is around 10% of the total investment.

The second scenario requires advance funding before applying for subsidies. If the project fails to be completed due to a break in the funding chain during construction, subsidies cannot be applied for.

"It seems you already know, so I don't need to say more. Anyway, if you encounter any funding problems later, you can come to me, and I'll help you apply for an agricultural loan."

Gulixian smiled and stopped talking.

The two chatted casually about everything under the sun, and as noon approached, they went to the kitchen together to start cooking.

Gu Lixian was in charge of washing and chopping the vegetables, while Gu Tong was in charge of stir-frying them; they worked together very well.

"Gu Tong, I love your braised chicken the most. I'm so lucky to have it today."

After the two sat down, Gulixian rubbed her hands together, ready to devour the tempting chicken.

Gu Tong couldn't help but smile, not expecting the other person to be a real foodie.

The two of them ate lunch together, beaming with joy, while in a private room at a restaurant in the county town, everyone faced a table full of delicious food, but no one touched their chopsticks.

"Director Ma, you know Honghe's situation better than anyone else; it's completely beyond saving. What will you do with all the agricultural machinery you have after Honghe collapses? That's why I'm inviting you to dinner today out of sincerity; you don't need to be too resistant."

The group of people sitting in the private room were clearly divided into two groups: on one side were Lu Mengzhou and other members of the Jinfeng Group, and on the other side were Ma Yucheng and other directors of Honghe.

After Li Yong left Honghe, Jinfeng Group revealed its true intentions and seized control of several of Honghe's major agricultural machinery customers.

These people either sold their agricultural machinery to Jinfeng Group or defected to them, and Honghe was on the verge of collapse.

Today, Lu Mengzhou invited several directors of Honghe to dinner, which was actually the final showdown.

In his view, there was no point in putting up a stubborn resistance; the right solution was for everyone to turn hostility into friendship.

Doing business boils down to four words: harmony brings wealth. He didn't want to drive everyone to a dead end.

"Manager Lu, you don't need to pretend. Just say what you have to say."

Ma Yucheng snorted coldly, not buying it.

He knew that Honghe was finished, but he was unwilling to sell himself to Jinfeng Group.

"Director Ma, and all the directors, I hope you will join the Jinfeng Group. The branch company will be responsible for the entire Yiwu region, including Nasu, and you will all have great opportunities to showcase your talents in the future."

Of course, everyone has their own aspirations, and I won't force anyone. If you really don't want to join, you can sell your farm machinery to the company; I guarantee you won't suffer any losses.

Now that things have come to this, Lu Mengzhou no longer needs to hide anything.

He gave everyone two options. One option was to join the Jinfeng Group's Yiwu City branch, along with their agricultural machinery, and he guaranteed that he could arrange a good position for them.

Another option is to sell agricultural machinery. He is willing to raise the purchase price, after all, the people present are the backbone of Honghe.

"Manager Lu, I can't stomach your delicious food and wine, goodbye!"

Ma Yucheng has a bad temper and a strong personality.

He would rather have the farm machinery stuck in his hands and become scrap metal than surrender to the Jinfeng Group.

So he stood up, said something coldly to Lu Mengzhou, and then walked towards the door.

He paused at the door and looked back. He saw that the other directors of Honghe were all bowing their heads, but none of them stood up.

Ma Yucheng sighed and then quickly left the restaurant.

Gu Tong and Gu Lixian finished their meal happily. Despite Gu Lixian's objections, she insisted on taking the sheets off and washing them.

The weather has been great lately, and the sheets will dry completely in less than half a day if left to dry in the yard.

"You finally have a day off, and you still help me with my work. I'm so sorry. Thanks, Gulixian."

Gu Tong said this, but her heart was full of joy.

He already had several good friends in Nassau, and now he has gained another true friend.

"Why are you being so polite? You made me so much delicious food, shouldn't I help you wash some things? Okay, remember to pack up later, I should go now."

Gulixian smiled, waved her hand, turned and went into the house, then picked up her bag and came out to get into the car.

The little stone came running from afar, probably knowing she was leaving, and kept circling around her.

Just then, the sound of a car engine came from outside the yard, growing louder as it approached, before abruptly stopping at the gate.

"Brother Gu, someone is looking for you."

Then, Dong Jun and a middle-aged man came into view.

Little Stone suddenly stopped, turned to look at them, and let out a low whimper.

"Little stone!"

Gu Tong gave a low shout, and Little Stone relaxed his guard and turned back into a well-behaved dog.

The other two sheepdogs ran over from the sheepfold at that moment. Little Stone barked at them, and the two sheepdogs turned back.

Gulixian couldn't help but laugh at the sight, and at the same time, she was quite curious about who the newcomer was.

Dong Jun led the middle-aged man closer and said, "Director Ma, this is Gu Tong. Brother Gu, this is Ma Yucheng, a director of Honghe. He couldn't find your place, so he came to the village and happened to meet me, so I brought him here."

"Director Ma, hello!"

"Gu Tong, hello. I've heard of you before, it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person!"

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Gu Lixian finally spoke: "Gu Tong, Brother Dong, I'll take my leave now. I'll contact you by phone later."

After she finished speaking, she nodded to Ma Yucheng.

"I'm going too, I can hitch a ride, just drop me off at the village entrance."

Dong Jun, being quite perceptive, got into the car and left with Gu Lixian.

Gu Tong waved to Gu Lixian and said, "Drive slowly on the road," then invited Ma Yucheng into the house.

"Gu Tong, don't call me Director Ma. Honghe will cease to exist soon. You can call me Old Ma or just my name. I'm here today to discuss a collaboration with you."

After the host and guest were seated, Gu Tong poured the other person a cup of tea.

Ma Yucheng didn't touch the teacup, but directly stated his purpose.

The agricultural machinery service market in the county has changed dramatically. Honghe has fallen apart, and individual agricultural machinery owners now have to either sell their machines or...

There is basically no third option but to join the King Fung Group.

The only exception is Gu Tong and his four-person team, who managed to barely hold onto a place in the agricultural machinery service market.

Ma Yucheng was unwilling to surrender, but he couldn't let the farm machinery in his hands become scrap metal. After thinking it over, he decided to cooperate with Gu Tong's four-person group.

"Has Honghe really come to this?"

Gu Tong knew that Honghe would collapse sooner or later, but she didn't expect it to collapse so quickly.

Ma Yucheng nodded solemnly. The matter was already settled and could not be reversed by human effort.

"I see..."

Gu Tong tapped her fingers lightly on the coffee table, her mind racing.

Before today, he knew nothing about Ma Yucheng. Although the other party's logic was sound, he couldn't possibly believe Ma Yucheng based on just a few words.

"I have a suggestion, I don't know if Brother Ma can accept it. Our four-person group has no ambition and has no intention of competing with the Jinfeng Group, so we can only adopt a loose cooperation model."

We don't have a large number of agricultural machines, nor do we have any large or extra-large ones. If we ever encounter a situation where we don't have enough machines or the models are incompatible, we can ask for your assistance. Your service fee will definitely satisfy you.

After careful consideration, Gu Tong came up with a solution.

According to this plan, the four-person group will not accept Ma Yucheng into the inner circle, nor will they lease his agricultural machinery. Instead, they will adopt a loose cooperation model by paying appearance fees.

After hearing this, Ma Yucheng couldn't help but roll his eyes.

However, he was also well aware that before today, the two sides were still enemies, and the idea of ​​turning enemies into friends had a prerequisite: that the two sides could gradually build trust.

So, in a bad mood, he pulled out a bill from his pocket and slammed it down in front of Gu Tong.

Gu Tong picked it up and saw that it contained detailed records of Ma Yucheng's agricultural machinery types, models, and quantities, even including the year they were purchased.

When he saw the last piece of farm machinery, his eyes narrowed instantly, as if pricked by a needle.